The Escape Artists – Jonathan Freedland In Conversation
In this episode, take a trip back to April 1944 when Rudolf Vrba and Fred Wetzler became the first Jews ever to escape Auschwitz.
After grappling with electrified fences, dodging watchtowers and evading the eagle-eyed SS with their vicious guard dogs in order to secure their freedom, Vrba then began work on his next task – to reveal the horrors of the Holocaust via an eyewitness report that ultimately reached presidents, prime ministers and the Pope – and saved over 20,000 lives.
About the Author
Jonathan Freedland
Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and former foreign correspondent. He was named Columnist of the Year in 2002, Commentator of the Year in 2016 and won an Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2014. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View, and is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. He is the author of 11 books, two of them non-fiction, including his first book, the award-winning Bring Home the Revolution. He has written nine thrillers under the name Sam Bourne, including The Righteous Men which was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
About the Chair
Akeela Ahmed
Akeela is a business leader, social entrepreneur and government advisor specialising in equalities campaigning. Since 2012, she has sat on the cross-government Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred, and became chair of the group in 2016. In 2014, Akeela founded ‘She Speaks We Hear’, an online platform bringing women’s voices together. She is a newspaper reviewer on BBC Radio London and a regular contributor to national and international media.
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